>   *Get a grip!*  Are you not aware that mercury-containing thermometers
> are, despite Casio, Terumo and Omron, still sold in the thousands by
> chemists (or whatever you call them there) to put in the mouths of
> reluctant kids to chew on?

For three minutes, rarely, and under supervision, as opposed to hours at
a time, daily, without supervision.

See my comments to Paul.

It's not a risk that I would choose to take, had I known about it in
advance.
The mercury in the switches was not the clean, shiny stuff I see
normally, the surface was grey and "lumpy" looking, which I would assume
is from contaminants.

Do I want to take a chance on injecting my kid with some unknown
chemical brew, containing at least mercury?  No.

Disposal of the shoes is yet another question, one I'm not qualified to
address. I tossed the shoe part, and kept the flasher modules.